Archive for the 'Oc Cities' Tag Under 'Total Buzz' Category

On the eve of the City Council election in San Juan Capistrano, the last-minute political pieces are coming in - and some pay less-than-close attention to details.

Take this one, sent by a group called Residents for Reform. The email included an image of an Orange County Register story about the California Fair Political Practices Commission deciding to investigate a San Juan Capistrano lawyer's complaint against a local activist group that supports council candidates Roy Byrnes and Kim McCarthy.

The trouble is that an "extra" headline was inserted by the group above the story. That non-Register head read, "STATE WILL INVESTIGATE MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES AGAINST BURNS & McCARTHY."

To set the record straight, The Orange County Register story did not include such a headline and the story said nothing about money-laundering allegations. As might be expected, Byrnes and McCarthy were not happy with the "creative license" added to the original Register story, and neither were we.

It looks like Registrar of Voters Neal Kelleycalled it right last week when he suggested turnout in today's primary election might dip below 30 percent.

Earlier today we visited four precincts in Fullerton -- site of the hottest contest in Orange County, the proposed recall of three city council members. We found no lines and few voters to interview.

Sharon Paiz, voting at Fullerton's Fire Station 2 on Valencia Drive, said she opposed the recall.

"These councilmen have done a terrific job, and it's just a shame (Tony) Bushala had to step in and take advantage of the Kelly Thomas situation," said Paiz, 70, referring to the primary funder of the recall campaign. "The city council was acting on the advice of its attorneys. (Bushala) wants to take control of the city and get his people on the council."

But Leon Franks, who voted at Raymond Elementary, said he favored the recall.

The Association of California Cities-Orange County has joined the fight against the legislature's attempt to force local redevelopment agencies to pay the state millions of dollars just to continue to exist.

Each agency would have to pay approximately 40 percent of its funding back to the state, according to the ACC-OC.

The lawsuit, filed in California Supreme Court, argues the bills violate Proposition 22, which prohibits the state from raiding local government coffers to fund its own obligations. Voters overwhelmingly approved the proposition last November.

Orange County cities are facing a combined $150 million payment to the state if the lawsuit fails. Twenty-three of the county's 34 cities have redevelopment agencies.

When the Santa Ana City Council voted 4-3 on Tuesday to condemn remarks by Claudia Alvarez, the mayor pro tem, one of the four members voting in favor of the motion was Alvarez herself. Her "yes" vote meant that a competing motion, which would have removed her from the mayor pro tem position, never came to a vote.

In essence, then, Alvarez got to decide her own punishment for remarks in which she compared downtown landlord Irv Chase to Adolf Hitler and accused Chase and his son, Ryan Chase, of "ethnic cleansing."

After the council meeting, I asked the City Attorney's office why Alvarez wasn't required to abstain from the vote. Here's the response I got:

"The California Political Reform Act, in Government Code section 87100, states that, “No public official at any level of state or local government shall make, participate in making or in any way attempt to use his official position to influence a governmental decision in which he knows or has reason to know he has a financial interest.” Essentially, a public official will have a conflict of interest if the decision will have a reasonably foreseeable material financial effect on one or more of the official's economic interests. >

While voters have expressed reluctance when it comes to raising state taxes, a Los Angeles Times/USC poll released today found that 60 percent think local governments should be able to ask voters to approve new taxes on cigarettes, sugary drinks, liquor and oil extractions to fund local projects and operations.

I received an anonymous phone message this morning lambasting me and Total Buzz for one-sided coverage of Huy Pham, the Costa Mesa city employee who committed suicide the day he was to receive a layoff notice.

Neither I nor Total Buzz have written a word on this subject prior to this item you're reading. It has been covered in Register news sections by reporters who don't post on Total Buzz. Click here for the most recent news item, which appeared in today's paper, about the toxicology report showing Pham had cocaine in his system.

Orange County will receive $8.9 million to fight terrorism from the Homeland Security Department's Urban Area Security Initiative grants for fiscal year 2011, according Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D- Santa Ana.

That's $4 million less than last year, the result in part of a 20-percent cut to UASI funding - a cut opposed by Sanchez, who blames it on the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and last month's belt-tightening bill approving government funding for the rest of the year. Criteria for awarding the grants include terrorism risk and vulnerability.

"I am disappointed that UASI cannot fully renew last year's security funding for Orange County," said Sanchez, a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “These are tough economic times but homeland security must remain a priority. Orange County is home to many national attractions which require high security at all times and this money will help train and equip first responders and emergency management officials to respond to any threats or disasters that Orange County may face."

While the cut in funding is dramatic, the county experienced an even more radical trim of that funding in 2006, when the grant dropped from $19.8 million the previous year to $11.9 million.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas began making the rounds Tuesday to urge Orange County cities to ban registered sex offenders in city parks and other recreation areas.

First stop: Irvine.

Rackauckas, along with county Supervisor Shawn Nelson, worked together to ban registered sex offenders from county parks, beaches and other areas where children play. The county ban went into effect May 5.

"Irvine's City Council on Tuesday was the first to take up the matter, but was split in its enthusiasm, with some members asking if a new layer of restrictions on sex offenders is the best use of police resources," our colleague Jeff Overley wrote in his re-cap of the meeting.

An internet video posted this week is rekindling concern over the Feb. 13 protest outside a Yorba Linda fundraiser held by the Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA.

While the Register reported on the protest, the video (see it below) accentuates the vitriolic aspects - including protesters yelling at the men, women and children filing into the event, which was to benefit homeless shelters and other social programs in the U.S.

"Go back home! Go back home!" chants a portion the crowd at one point.

As attendees filed out later, a protester shouts, ""Why don't you go beat up your wife like you do every night? Maybe you ought to go have sex with a nine-year-old, and marry her."

Several other comments on the video have attracted criticism, but two that are particularly generating discussion were made during a speech to protesters by Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly, who also serves as first vice chairman of the O.C. GOP's governing Central Committee.

While Wisconsin's Republican governor has garnered national headlines for his aggressive assault on public employee unions, Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh is laying the groundwork for a related campaign.

A self-described "boot camp" Thursday for public officials, focusing on the need for pension reform, attracted 175 paid attendees from cities in Orange County and throughout the state. Its 19 speakers included accounting and pension specialists, labor law and bankruptcy lawyers, former legislators, and a communications expert.

The Irvine Hyatt event, organized by Baugh and sponsored by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, also got the attention of key unions. Continue reading this story>>